ARMY OF HEALTH VISITORS

The NSPCC is calling for an additional 4,000 health visitors to be employed in response to their report of 45 under fives being killed between 2007 - 2008.

Whilst we would not wish to see ANY children die or be killed, this must be seen in context - there are over 3 MILLION under 5s in the UK, 45 is a very tiny percentage and I don't believe it justifies an additional 4,000 health visitors. (It might be worth noting that there are some 70 deaths annually in police custody, should we therefore employ 7,000 people to check up on people in police custody to reduce this figure?)

The NSPCC are assuming that we must all be monitored, as parents cannot be trusted to care for their children. There is far too much state intrusion already and rather than assume that ALL parents should be checked on, why not decide which ones may need extra help and support?

The horrific case of Baby P is used to help justify yet more intrusion into family life, yet he was known to the authorities and had been visited, an extra 4,000 health visitors would not have done anything to help save this child.

Virtually every mother to be comes into contact with a whole range of health professionals during her pregnancy, surely it is only necessary for a GP or midwife to be able to express concerns (NO WE DON'T NEED A BIG DATABASE TO DO THIS) and for the health visitors to prioritise their visits to those concerned rather than trying to cover everybody (badly).

If you are looking for a needle, don't make the haystack bigger!